June 18 (Bloomberg) -- General Electric Co. and Staples
Inc. are among companies cited by an environment group for
acting to cut emissions tied to global warming after Congress
failed to pass climate-change legislation.

The World Wildlife Fund issued a report today, written in
part by McKinsey & Co., that named GE and Staples as companies
that improved by financial performance by tackling climate
change. Investing in low-carbon energy sources, curbs on energy
use and installation of modern heating or cooling technologies
can help both the Earth and corporate balance sheets, according
to the report.

“Traditionally we’ve been addressing the general public or
policy makers, but the target audience for this report is chief
financial officers,” Carter Roberts, the Washington-based
fund’s president, said in an interview. “You either pay now, or
you pay later.”

The accumulation of greenhouse gases, primarily carbon
dioxide, is causing an increase in global temperatures, a rise
in sea levels and more frequent instances of extreme storms,
droughts and floods, according to the U.S. Global Change
Research Program. Average U.S. temperatures may jump 4 degrees
Fahrenheit (2.2 degrees Celsius) in the coming decades, and
efforts to combat the effects are insufficient, the government
advisory panel said in January.

Businesses Encouraged

Congress failed to pass, after two decades of warnings,
cap-and-trade legislation to combat climate change in 2010, and
environmental groups are pessimistic about action in the future.
In its place, they are urging the administration of President
Barack Obama to use regulatory powers to control emissions and
encourging businesses to act on their own.

Roberts said he is betting that once some of the biggest,
richest companies act, they will prod legislators to take up the
challenge.

“The profound frustration we feel is that government is
not taking the kind of decisions necessary to address one of the
greatest risks of our time, and so all eyes turn to the private
sector,” Roberts said.

The report, titled “The 3% Solution,” is aimed at getting
the U.S. to meet cuts in carbon emissions seen as necessary on a
global scale to prevent temperatures from rising on average more
than 2 degrees Celsius. Meeting that goal would require U.S.
companies to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 3 percent a year
through 2020, it said.

Solar, Wind

Some companies are moving to accomplish this, with GE,
Staples, Coca-Cola Co. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. taking some of
the actions recommended. Wal-Mart has set a goal to rely solely
on renewable energy, including using solar installations on
store roofs and buying electricity from wind farms, the report
said. GE sets employees loose on a ‘‘treasure hunt” for wasted
power. Staples adjusts internal accounting mechanisms to
encourage more profitable energy investments, it said.

Taken together, making a profit by targeting green
initiatives was a surprise for the World Wildlife Fund, said Lou
Leonard, who heads the group’s climate effort.

“It turns the issue on its head,” Leonard said. “It’s
not about burden, it’s about where the profit potential is.”